Ibrox View: Magic moment from Rangers new boy proves he is ready to kick on after fresh setback
You have to feel sorry for Rangers new boy Cedric Itten.
It’s taken the Switzerland international a little while to get up and running at Ibrox, but he looked razor sharp in the 5-1 win over Motherwell at the weekend, bagging a well-taken brace at Fir Park.
That should have been his cue to really kick on for the Gers, but a knee injury looks as if it is going to rule him out of the Europa League clash against Galatasaray on Thursday evening.
Steven Gerrard has admitted that the 23-year-old is “major doubt” for that match, but we still saw enough from Itten on Sunday to be extremely excited for his return.
Swiss journalist Hanspeter Kuenzler recently told Ibrox News that he expects the hitman to develop in a “major way” in Scotland, and we’re cautiously optimistic that we’re starting to see the first glimpses of that massive potential.
Itten’s shot accuracy on against Motherwell was a full 17% higher than his season average, while his pass completion rate was 6% higher and his duel win percentage was better by 15.1%, as per Wyscout.
But really, this performance was all about the goals – and in particular the stunning strike that opened his account.
First of all, Itten shows his prowess as a target man by taking down a high ball with ease and dropping it off to a teammate.
From there, he then has the presence of mind to spin on his heel, and is immediately looking to get in and around the danger area.
Scott Arfield’s ball into Itten from out wide is sublime, but it’s testament to the striker’s natural intelligence and positional awareness that he makes a conscious effort to drift in between his two centre-backs.
That means that when the ball reaches him, he has a second or two longer to compose himself before taking his shot.
And Itten uses that time to good effect.
With his first touch, he deliberately flicks the ball up, giving him an opportunity to hit it on the half-volley.
The hitman is a long way from goal, but his technique is flawless, leaning over the top of the ball to keep it down and striking it with power and precision.
It’s a ferocious shot, and even from that range, there’s nothing in the world that the keeper could have reasonably done to stop it.
Off the back of such a brilliant moment of magic, it’s a real shame that we won’t get to see Itten flex his goalscoring muscles again against Galatasaray on Thursday.
We’ve got a feeling that this won’t be the only special strike we see from the danger man during his time at Ibrox though.
In other Rangers news, ‘Nerves of steel’ – Former teammate blown away by ‘brave’ Rangers mainstay ahead of clash v Gala.